KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal is expected to be sworn in as Sabah Chief Minister at 9pm at the Istana Negeri, tonight.
Announcing this, Warisan deputy president Darell Leiking said they were informed of the matter by the Istana Negeri officials.
Mohd Shafie neither confirmed nor denied the matter but merely replied “thank you” when the media congratulated him.
“Let the Istana inform ...Thank you for your support. I want to have a meeting for a while,” he told pressmen before leaving his Golfview residence.
Earlier, Leiking had said that current Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman should abide by the law as he has lost the majority.
“Once you have lost the majority, you should know what the most dignified way is and give way for the transition to the next chief minister.
“Sabah has matured and we’ve been through this twice. We respect how (Tan Sri Joseph) Pairin (Kitingan) gave way to Tun Sakaran (Dandai) in 1994.
“That’s how it needs to be done. The people and Sabah matter more than personal ego,” he said.
The Warisan-Pakatan Harapan pact has now obtained 35 seats after six assemblymen from Umno amd Upko ditched the newly-formed Barisan Nasional state government led by Musa, yesterday.
The six are Datuk Abdul Muis Picho (Sebatik), Datuk Hamisa Samat (Tanjong Batu), Datuk Osman Jamal (Balung), Jamawi Jaafar (Kemabong), Datuk Abidin Madingkir (Panginatan) and Ewon Benedick (Kadamaian).
Upko had on Thursday announced the party’s exit from BN and formed an alliance with the Warisan-PH pact to form the next state government.